Shall we assume the woman is the mother? Is she the mother of all of them, or is she minding some neighbor kids, too? I look at pictures like this where the framing draws attention to all the open land behind them, and I wonder what became of all that space in the intervening decades. I can imagine that they are enjoying an afternoon out at the edge of a new subdivision, and by now it’s all been built up. In any case, I think it’s a sweet photo that captures a pleasant moment.

Thanks. It’s one of those that I tends to hesitate to post because it could be framed better, the people could be shown more clearly, etc. But it strikes a chord every time I look at it, and I have to remember to go with my instincts on these, since an emotional reaction to a photo is just as important as an intellectual reaction to the formal composition.

When I see old pictures, I look at them as raw art. Once in a while, they are perfect as is but others need that an accent to bring out the best features.

As a photographer, I don’t always take a great picture but as an editor, I am pretty good at removing noise to let the best part of the picture shine through. But sometimes, the noise is what makes the picture.

Though this one is quite blury in the background, it is what makes it charming and dated. If you just zoom in on the family, they do look better but you miss the environment factor, which I like in this case.